A pet dog While research has suggested that pets can offer people health benefits, a new study from Finland finds that pet owners tend to be heavier, less active and in poorer health than those without a pet. However, that doesn't mean pets are bad for us, the researchers note. Rather, people most likely to have a pet, such as middle-aged and home-owners, also tend to be more sedentary and thicker around the middle. Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland report the findings in PLoS ONE, an online journal published by the Public Library of Science. A number of studies have suggested that certain people benefit from living with a dog or cat -- a pet may help lower blood pressure and heart rate, for example, or ease stress, loneliness and even dementia-related agitation in the elderly. But whether pet owners as a group are a healthier lot has been unclear. The new findings suggest they're not. Using survey data from more than 21,000 young to middle-aged Finnish adults, researchers found that pet owners were generally more likely to be overweight and to view their own health as poor. This was largely because pet owners tended to be middle-aged, have less education and more health-risk factors, explained Dr. Leena K. Koivusilta, the study's lead author. And despite having Fido to take for walks, even dog owners typically got little exercise. This is likely because they were often home-owners who could simply put the dog in the yard, Koivusilta noted. The fact that pet owners were in poorer health does not mean that furry companions aren't a health boon, she said. "In my opinion," Koivusilta said, "pets provide us all with a vast potential for health promotion, and this has indeed been shown when some special groups have been studied." Pet owners, according to the researchers, may just need to make more of an effort -- such as walking and playing with the dog instead of showing him the way to the yard. 点击查看更多双语新闻 (Reuters)

虽然有调查表明养宠物有益于身体健康，但芬兰的一项最新研究发现，养宠物的人体重见涨、活动减少，而且健康状况要比那些不养宠物的人差。 但研究人员指出，这并不是说明宠物对我们的健康有害，而是因为养宠物的人大多是中年人和有私房者。这些人习惯久坐，因此腰部变得越来越肥胖。 芬兰土尔库大学的研究人员将这一研究结果发表在科学公共图书馆出版的在线期刊PLoS ONE上。 之前的大量研究表明，养宠物的确能使一部分人的健康得到改善。比如，养宠物有助于降低血压和心率，能够缓解压力、减轻孤独感、甚至可以缓解老年痴呆症所引起的焦虑。 但此前的研究并没有弄清养宠物的人作为一个群体，是否比其他人更加健康的问题。目前的这项最新研究则对这一问题做出了否定的回答。 研究人员对芬兰21000多名青年和中年人进行了调查，结果发现，养宠物的人体重超标的几率较大，而且他们对于自己的健康状况也不满意。 研究报告的主要撰写人丽娜·K·库夫斯尔塔解释说，这主要是因为养宠物的人大多是中年人，他们受到的教育较少，而且处在健康比较容易出问题的年龄段。 尽管养宠物的人会遛遛狗，但他们的运动量还是远远不够。 库夫斯尔塔说，这可能是因为这些人大多有自己的房子，他们只要把狗放在院子里就行了。 她说，养宠物的人健康状况不佳并不能说明宠物对人的健康不利。 库夫斯尔塔说：“在我看来，养宠物为我们提供了一个改善健康的大好机会，这一点已从对一些特殊人群的调查得到证明。” 研究人员说，宠物主人们应该加强锻炼，比如，出门遛狗、和狗一起做游戏，而不是把狗放在院子里就万事大吉了。 （英语点津姗姗编辑）